


It's your choice

by boldest_dreamer



Category: David Bowie (Musician), Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:00:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24303295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boldest_dreamer/pseuds/boldest_dreamer
Summary: What if Sarah had never defeated Jareth? What if she had stayed with him to fear him, love him and do as he says? What if she had learned to see the, man behind the boastful smirk?
Relationships: Jareth & Sarah Williams, Jareth/Sarah Williams
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	It's your choice

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is my first "labyrinth" story, so i'd love to get some feedback. constructive criticism is always welcome! thanks for checking out my work!

“For my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom as great…” “Stop it!” His dark voice interrupted Sarah’s low chanting. Suddenly his asymmetrical eyes seemed so much darker than before. His determination to defeat her, as weak as he might have thought she was, turned them almost black. But just for a moment Sarah thought she had seen a glimpse of desperation flash on his face. “Just fear me, love me, do as I say! And I will be your slave”, he growled with a voice as rough as you would only expect it from a hundred of years old being. 

Her slave? He had claimed that everything he had done he had done just for her. But that was only a desperate attempt to trick her into giving up. He had proven himself as everything but a fair player. There was no chance he was actually going to give her anything. His only aim was to win. Not because Sarah was a serious threat, but because he could not accept a defeat. All these years she had spent with her thoughts in his realm. She knew he was not one to grant anything to his enemies. But hadn’t he done it before? He had taken Toby just because she asked him for it. And even though she had not really meant it, he had only granted her wish.

A tender whimpering tore Sarah back to reality. Or at least back to what might be reality or just the longest nightmare she had ever had. She looked over the king’s shoulder and spotted Toby on a piece of cement, which was floating in the air. With wandering eyes, he slowly crawled towards the edge. “No! Toby, stop!” He did not seem to even hear her. Unbothered by her desperate cry he kept moving. 

This had to stop. Now. “Her kingdom as great…eh…her kingdom…” Oh that damn line! She always kept forgetting it. It was so simple. It felt like if she just opened her mouth it would find its way from her tongue on its own. But all that left her throat when she tried to spit out these final words was a weak, rasping sound. The expression on Jareth’s face changed back to an arrogant smirk. He was clearly amused by her stuttering. “Maybe you do not really want to fish that sentence, dear. I see some lack of determination.” Lack of determination? His attempt to manipulate her was so obvious, Sarah almost laughed. Almost. He thought he could control her like some little girl, but he didn’t have that kind of power over her.

You have no power over me! That was it! The only words deciding between salvation and a fate fully determined by the king’s mercy. If it were to actually work. If he wasn’t going to punish her for fighting back against him. What if all her efforts were in vain? A sudden rush of fear sent shivers down her whole body. “You…”, she began with a trembling voice. “Yes dear?” Suddenly his expression changed from the old arrogant smirk to a gentle smile. And just for a moment his mask cracked, and a new man was revealed. A man, who might, deep beneath the surface, have a heart, able of genuine empathy. 

A memory appeared before her inner eye like a film inside of her head. A thousand lights peeking through endless layers of the most noble fabrics she had ever seen. An eternal flow of colors moving around her like the smooth waves of a mountain stream. In the middle of the dancing crowd one man stood completely still. A pair of eyes, different in shape but identical in their intensity, stared right at her. And there it was again! The smile. With the soft but determined moves of black panther he made his way through the crowd. 

Somewhere in the back of her head she could hear a voice telling her to go, to run and to never look back. But something about that mysterious stranger made her silence every reason calling to her. Only three feet in front of her he had stopped. Before she knew it, she saw her hand moving towards him to meet his. She felt like she was watching a scene, when he put his arm around her waist and bent down his head, until his lips were not even an inch away from her ear. “May I have this dance?” His rasping voice gave her goosebumps and without hesitation she put her hand on his shoulder and let him guide her to the sound of the tender symphony coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. 

Suddenly the scene sped up. Hours had gone by, filled with laughter and the joy of dancing. Once again, he smiled down on her. “You seem to be enjoying yourself quite well, dear.” “How couldn’t I?” For a moment she was irritated by the delight in her voice. She had not talked with so much joy in a while. “I see. Don’t you like the idea of living like this forever? And you could have so much more. Everything you ever wanted. Every single one of your wishes I could grant. For you I would do it all.” I did it all for you. The voice in her head was back. Now louder than before. More urgent. There was something she needed to remember. He suddenly stood still and caught her when the abrupt stop had her stumbling over her own feet. But as soon as she was stable again, he let go of her and took a step back. The sudden lack of his embrace had a cold breeze creeping up her spine and a heavy shiver took possession of her. His gentle smile had vanished and with a now serious expression he turned around and slowly walked away. 

Sarah wanted to follow him. She wanted to cling to him and beg him to stay. But she was frozen still. She opened her mouth to call him by his name. Yet, the only thing she could spit out was a simple “No!” It was only a whisper, but it filled the ballroom like a roaring thunderstorm. For a moment she thought he had not heard her anyway. But then he turned his head and over his shoulder he said: “It is your choice, dear.” With another step he disappeared between the other guests. Finally, her numbness vanished, and she ran after him, or at least into the direction where she assumed, he would be. But she only managed to take a few steps in the middle of the dancing chaos. She heard fabric being torn apart and was pulled off her feet. She tipped over and flailed her arms uncontrollably. In her haste she had stepped on her own dress. Desperately she grabbed the next thing she could find to keep her balance. 

“Are you alright, sweetheart?”, a soft voice asked. As she looked up, she realized that the thing she had clung to was not actually a thing, but a person. A middle-aged woman to be exact. “Sweetheart?”, she asked again, when Sarah only stared at her worried face. Quickly I cleared her throat. “Um, yes I am alright. Sorry, for disturbing you! I fell when I was looking for someone.” “Oh, don’t worry, sweetheart!” Her concerned expression turned into a smile. But it only filled half of her face. The other half was suddenly covered by a thousand little wrinkles. Her skin began to peel off in little grey flakes and Sarah made a small leap away from her. The woman opened her mouth, as if to say something, but before she could speak, her jaw had crumbled. She reached out for Sarah, but her hand met the same fate as her face and in a grey cloud it was blown away by a sudden breeze.

Terrified by the view of the deformed woman Sarah turned away, only to find a dozen other dancers, who were also crumbling before her eyes. Slowly at first, but their destruction sped up, until they turned into ashes only in seconds. One after the other disappeared and then finally Sarah was alone. Around her only darkness. The ballroom had vanished along with the dancers. A feeling of emptiness laid hold of her. Desperation filled every inch of her body, as she exhaled one last word: “Jareth?”


End file.
